Spirit of Konoha
by keeper1fs
Summary: What happens with Naruto and Konoha when the night of Kyuubi's attack went totally different? Rescued by two dead believed shinobi, Naruto was saved from the villagers wraith, but stolen from his mothers love. Living abroad from the village for so long, how will the people react to his return? / Strong Naruto. Alive Kushina.


I know the chapter is rather short, but it's only the introduction and only a glimpse of what might happen next. You can expect much longer chapters after this one.

Chapter 1: New life

The world of the shinobi was full of wonders and secrets to be discovered, but also misery and death were a constant companion. Over three years had passed since the third great shinobi world war has ended. Konoha, the most powerful village in Hi no Kuni and member of the five major villages, was one of the victors of that war. Through this war, many shinobi paved their way through history. Some died as heroes, others lived on as legends.

One of these legends was called 'The Yellow Flash' of Konoha. He was nominated as Hokage, the leader of the village, a few months after the war. His name was spoken in the same breath as the three legendary sannin or Hanzou of the Salamander, the leader of Amegakure, hailed as the strongest shinobi alive. But the truth was, to each legend belonged a darker, more shadowy side of reality, which the Hokage knew all too well.

His first team, which he had led as jounin on dozen of missions, had been shattered in the course of the war. Two of his students vanished off the radar and were declared dead after the war. Their bodies had never been found. Only Hatake Kakashi, son of the deceased Hatake Sakumo, the white fang of Konoha, survived that horrendous war. He was hailed as a prodigy just like his father, getting promoted to chuunin at the tender age of six and reaching jounin with only thirteen. But the loss of his friends and teammates ate away at him. Far to late he had realized the really important things every shinobi should keep at heart. Back then, he accompished their mission alone and lost his only friends in return, because the mission was more important to him than his teammates. A mistake and deep regret that would follow him for all eternity...

But all these storys belonged to the past and people should live for the moment and the future. Almost three years had passed since the war and the date was october 10th. Since the day Kushina had learned she was pregnant with Minato's child, they have longed for the day their baby is born. They couldn't have known that the day of joy would been overshadowed by evil and tragedy.

With sweat rolling down his forehead, Minato was placing his hands above Kushina's belly, holding the rampaging Kyuubi inside her seal at bay. The seal of a female Jinchuuriki was always getting weaker during pregnancy and at its weakest shortly before the actuall birth. In cooperation with the Sandaime Hokage and his wife Biwako, they had taken every precaution they could think. Even relocate the delivery outside the village in a seal house with Anbu protection just in case they couldn't handle the Kyuubi's jailbreak attempts. Everything went according to plan and soon enough the shrill crys of a newborn echoed through the house and the surrounding forest.

They were happy and overjoyed. Their child was healthy and the seal stable, although still weakend. "Don't worry, Kushina-chan. I'll fix your seal up right away and then we three can go home," Minato promised, but everything went downhill from that moment. Out of nowhere, a masked man had entered the house and killed everyone, but Minato and Kushina. He took little Naruto hostage and after a brief fight with Minato, the mysterious attacker took off with a weakend Kushina after using the baby as bait. Seconds later the roar of the Kyuubi echoed wide and far through the forest. Holding little Naruto in his arms, Minato knew that this night would be his last. He used his most famous jutsu and teleported himself and Naruto away to his house to prepair himself for the inevitable battle.

* * *

Finally the Kyuubi was sealed inside his son and the danger for Konoha had been momentarily avoided. Weakly sliding down the trunk of a tree, with his sleeping baby boy snuggled in his arms, Minato enjoyed his last few moments as a father. The forbidden sealing jutsu he used to seal away the Kyuubi was slowly eating away at his life force. There wasn't much time left and instead of thinking about the happy moments of his life with his beloved wife, he rather watched his son sleeping. In a few minutes, he would see Kushina again in the after life anyway. As the former Jinchuuriki her fate was sealed just like his own now. A Jinchuuriki couldn't survive without a Bijuu.

As a special memory, Minato carefully placed one of his individually crafted kunai into the cradle laying beside him. One day Naruto would carry on his legacy and maybe bring peace to the world. After that he started to comfortingly rock his son in his arms back and forth, just like he had always imagined it before. Slowly his eyes closed and Minato prepared himself to embrace the coming death. Before his mind drifted to far away though, the sound of rustling leaves and a few cracking brances let him glance up from his son's peaceful sleeping face one more time.

Coming out the surrounding bushes and standing before him were two cloaked persons he once knew very well, but he couldn't trust his eyes. Were they impostors? His mind was calculating all possibilities, but couldn't come up with a logical answer. In his condition there was no need for this scram, but they had been dead, or not? A sudden and very risky idea popped into his head as he gathered enough strength to bring forward his request. Maybe his son would not have to suffer the fate of solitute and marginalization all Jinchuuriki had to face.

Placing Naruto gently into the cradle, Minato with the remainder of his strenght lifted the cradle up and offered them to take his son. "Pl-Please take my son and protect him. I ... I can't do anything anymore for him and Kushina... she is already dead most likely. I plead you. The villagers won't accept him after what happened tonight," he gasped painfully, his strength and life force slipping away from his grasp.

A single tear escaped his closing eyes, rolling down his cheek and he finally passed away. But before that final moment, Minato noticed how someone gently took the cradle and he knew he could die in peace. Naruto would survive and he would have a good life. He knew that and thats why the tear wasn't about sadness, but happiness.

As sudden as the mysterious persons appeared as fast they had vanished again with Naruto under their thumbs.

* * *

Over three days had passed since the sudden attack of the mysterious masked man and the forcefully release of the Kyuubi no Yoko of its living prison. Many shinobi died protecting the village and the people living in it. All for the good of the village. The most tragic death was undisputedly the sacrifce of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, who used a forbidden seal, the Shiki Fūjin, to seal away the escaped Bijuu back into a living host. His very own newborn son.

If this wasn't already tragic enough, after the sealing was no trace anymore of the new Jinchuuriki. The newborn son of Minato and Kushina vanished the very same night. Once the late Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, reached the sealing area outside the village and only found Minato's dead body, he immediately started a huge search party. Not only was the missing baby the last legacy of their deceased leader, but also a very important asset to the village safety once he became the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

After several days without even a single viable lead, little Naruto was declared dead as well and Hiruzen started to make plans for the future defense of the village. In several years the Kyuubi could finish its reformation after its host's death and wreck havoc upon Konoha once more. The Sandaime Hokage had no hope and knew the boy was most likely dead, after all a newborn simply couldn't survive in the wilderness alone.

After Namikaze Naruto was officially declared dead as well, the whole Namikaze family was ultimately obliterated. Or maybe not? The real tragic of the Namikaze family hasn't even unfolded up until this point. Three days after the attack, a red-haired woman opened up her tired eyes in the hospital once more and was greeted by warm sunlight shining through the window and the chirping of birds. The wife of Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, had survived the taxing delivery and even the forcefully extraction of the Kyuubi thanks to her Uzumaki bloodline.

The happiness of survival was muted once the newly installed Sandaime Hokage visited her at the hospital and regretfully told her the crushing news. Once Hiruzen left her room, Kushina stared lifelessly at the white walls. Everything she loved was taken from her. She felt dead inside.

Would she ever be able to cope with the loss in the future?

* * *

to be continued ...


End file.
